Saturday Garage Sales

Heather and I, along with Heather's mom-in-law, chose a beautiful day to go garage saling. We really raked it in! I bought the least, but I still found a lot of goodies.

Here's my haul, with some photos:
11" tall aqua green tin pitcher, $2. This reminds me of the one Ikea sells, which is based on an antique design.

A green vintage apron with Ruth Ellen embroidered on the pocket, 50c (Ruth Ellen was The Professor's grandmother's name)

5-pc ceramic mixing bowl set, $212-speed Oster blender with glass jar, $6
Black and Decker iron, $1

10 white hangers, $1 (I like the type without the reinforcement piece on the bottom bar; it gives more space for my folded tablecloths)

Very Hungry Caterpillar, 50c
16 stainless steel napkin rings, $22 Pyrex refrigerator dishes with lids, $1

Fiskars 12" paper trimmer with travel case, $8
2 clear stamping blocks, 50c
50"x64" embroidered white tablecloth, 50c

57"x79" vintage barkcloth tablecloth, 50c

The mixing bowls, blender, and iron are for David. He asked me to look for things he'll need in his future apartment, once he graduates. Very slowly, I've found some useful things for him.

The kids' book is for church; the rest of the stuff is for me.

The embroidered tablecloth is stained and will need a long soak in an Oxi-clean bath. After that, I'm sure it will be white.

On a Rainy Day

An afternoon spent making 48 heart pop-up cards for the Sunday School children to decorate and send as encouragement. A peaceful activity for a gloomy, rainy day.

Fall Decor

I'm not much of a fan of fall, and especially, of Halloween. I don't like the scary, gory, ugly decor I see happily strewn across blogland. I just don't understand the desire to celebrate evil. I also am not a fan of orange. I guess that makes me a real Scrooge about Halloween!

Nevertheless, I did do a little decorating for fall, while trying to minimize the bright orange in my choices. Here is my mantle:
Very simple: books and pumpkins, browns, greens and just a touch of orange.
And from the opposite end. I used a few glass pieces to keep it light, and a few books for height and balance. The books also bring in the browns and greens.

And a few close-ups:A shabby iron pedestal topping two books, topped by a beaded pumpkin and glass cloche.

Another beaded pumpkin under glass, and a white ceramic one.

My tall apothecary jar with thrifted excelsior. I like the soft color the excelsior gives to the arrangement. I could have filled it with pumpkins or leaves, but I prefer the softness this gives.

I love these ceramic pumpkins in subtle colors. I found them at one local Dollar Tree this year. Our other stores didn't have them.

I also did a quick arrangement for the family room coffee table. It's almost pointless to put anything on this coffee table because the grandsons love to dig the marbles out of this glass hurricane. And we don't even have the proper furniture for this coffee table to sit in front of! But that's life. And we can decorate life the way it really is.

Thrifty Find

Last week's Thrifty Find was on my "To Find" list for over 30 years!

I have wanted a pressure canner since I began canning early in our marriage, but they have always been too expensive. Off and on, I have looked on Craig's List and similar publications, but I was always too late the few times I saw one listed.

On Friday, while garage saling, there this was:Only $8.

It is quite heavy, and all the parts are accounted for.

It looks 1950's to me, but it may be earlier. I could almost write its biography from the pieces of information I have about it. The young man at the garage sale said it was his grandmother's, and then his mom got it. He remembers helping her can with it some years ago. Inside, the loose parts were wrapped in sections of newspaper, dated Oct 5, 1994, from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. That might be the last time the canner was used.

I have no idea if it's all in good working order, so I'll be taking it for a test drive very soon.